On Monday, Governor Murphy announced his 2024 budget proposal. With his endorsement and investment in growing the perinatal workforce in New Jersey, the proposed budget continues moving us toward being the safest, most equitable state in the nation to raise a baby. United Way of Central Jersey is grateful for the Governor's continued dedication to young children and their families in New Jersey.
The Governor’s FY2024 budget proposal includes the following:
- $15.535 million for our universal nurse home visitation program, including the development of a Medicaid payment infrastructure to support the program's sustainability. (Recommendation 5.19)
- $2.25 million for perinatal workforce training and education to further develop our midwifery, community doula and community health worker workforce. (Recommendations 5.13, 7.4, and 7.15)
- $2.5 million to strengthen the Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program, which provides up to $120,000 in student loan redemption to primary care providers, including physicians and certified nurse midwives, in exchange for two to four years of service in medically underserved areas throughout the state. (Recommendation 5.11)
- $2 million to support Nurture NJ awareness initiatives, such as a marketing campaign to drive more families to services through Connecting NJ.
- $1.82 million to enhance our maternal data efforts, through the expansion of our Maternal Data Center, the New Jersey Report Card of Hospital Maternity Care, and the database of maternal feedback of quality of care. (Recommendation 6.3)
- $1.75 million to support Healthy Corner Stores, to improve access to healthy foods and fresh fruits and vegetables for SNAP and WIC eligible participants. (Recommendation 5.5)
- $800,000 to the Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, which will provide increased support for programs including the Maternal and Infant Health Research & Development Seed Grant Program.
- $400,000 to implement the 2022-2027 New Jersey Breastfeeding Strategic Plan, which will coordinate statewide efforts to increase breastfeeding, improve lactation support, and help reduce inequitable infant health outcomes. (Recommendations 5.18 and 9.8)
- $350,000 for an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer analytical instrument to support the Prenatal Screening Program, which offers prenatal lead and mercury testing for maternity patients at their prenatal visits.
- $290,000 to support the SIDS Center of New Jersey to continue its mission in reducing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome rates in New Jersey.